The Raiding Experience [Part 2]

Running out of options I was, and on the verge of another burnout I did the craziest thing I'd ever think of doing at the time.

Applied for the one of the server's top guilds. Back in the day this guild was one of the best on Alliance- They'd conquered much of the raid content in original WoW and were making steady progress throughout Naxxramas before the Burning Crusade dropped. Once that expansion dropped, they were steamrolling their way through the Tier 4 and Tier 5 dungeons.

I vividly remember the night when they tackled the final boss in Serpentshrine Cavern- Details of that fight were being delivered at what was seemingly real-time in General Chat, which everyone in any of the main cities could read. Interesting night. They'd wiped out with the boss at 1% on an earlier attempt.

At the time, the only way to access the Tier 6 content was to defeat both the end bosses in the Tier 5 raid dungeons, as you had to do with the Tier 5 dungeons before them with the defeat of Nightbane in Karazhan and a lengthy chain quest through several heroic dungeons. I wasn't making much progress after my raid guild didn't live to see Tier 5 content and the guild I joined after dropped me like a bad habit once someone better came along, although I'd dabbled in Tier 5 content with them.

So I dropped a note, and surprisingly the guild had given me a chance with them. So I spent the next month wrecking stuff in Hyjal and Black Temple with my new guild. I didn't get geared up as fast as I'd hoped to so I could keep a spot on the raid team, since I was still mainly in Tier 4 armor with a few Tier 5 pieces I'd picked up. Not very good. Although I was able to remain in the guild due to the guild taking a liking to me, the rough times that had hit the guild a few months earlier had finally begun to catch up to it, effectively ending a 3-year run after clearing out Black Temple.

I'd burned out once again and didn't touch the game for another three months, returning in March 2008 to mountains of whispers from old friends from the server and after some time of settling down with the game after so long, a guild invite to a guild that had grown significantly from its beginnings at Karazhan. Although they were slightly behind from what I'd experienced four months earlier I figured I could lend my experiences to help the guild form their strategies in conquering the Black Temple bosses.

Joining one of the top guilds on my server despite the limitations of my class had made me a "living legend" on the server. Almost everyone knew me. It was pretty surprising to be honest. I continued on to help lead the guild to victory in Black Temple, putting the team's strengths to conquering the dungeon's nine tough bosses.

We didn't finish fast enough to wet our ankles in Sunwell Plateau but the Wrath of the Lich King expansion would throw us a nice curveball, and a new chapter would open in my raiding career...